Czech and Slovak MPs Nominate Chinese dissident for Nobel Peace prize
Prague, Czech Republic – February 3, 2010 – Forty Czech and fifty Slovak MPs have nominated Liu Xiaobo – a prominent Chinese human rights activist, writer and university professor – for Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination was also endorsed by ex-president Vaclav Havel and many former Charter 77 spokespersons.
Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to an eleven-year jail term on Christmas Day 2009 because of his pro-democracy writings and his role in the creation of the democratic manifesto Charter 08, which was inspired by the Czechoslovak Charter 77.
The official Czech nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize was initiated by Senator Alexandr Vondra, the former Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, who is a former political prisoner and spokesperson for Charter 77. The letter to Nobel Peace Committee stated that:
It is distressing that the criminalization of free speech in the name of state security is still with us. The use of this crude tool must be met with a vigorous international response. And those who, like Liu Xiaobo, choose to live in truth, despite harsh consequences, must be recognized for their courage and their service to humanity. In choosing Liu Xiaobo as the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, your Committee will remind the world that the values of human rights and human dignity remain a central part of who we are, despite the real threats from governments that live in fear of their own people. Presentation of the award to Liu Xiaobo will also serve as a timely reminder to those in other nations who also struggle for freedom – also under threat of harassment, violence, and worse – that their efforts are not in vain.
Senator’s Vondra initiative to nominate Liu Xiaobo for the Nobel Peace Prize has met with broad cross-party support from 40 members of the Czech Parliament (Chamber of Deputies and Senate). In addition, the official nomination letter has been signed by two Vice Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, Ms. Lucie Talmanová from ODS and Mr. Luboš Zaorálek from ČSSD and three Vice Presidents of the Czech Senate, Mr. Petr Pithart from KDU-ČSL, Ms. Alena Gajdůšková from ČSSD and Mr. Milan Štěch from ČSSD. Full text of the nomination letter and list of Czech MPs and Senators who have signed nomination is attached.
The Czech MPs initiative was encouraged and endorsed by numerous Czech Charter 77 signatories. In a letter signed by three of the “keepers of the Charter 77 heritage” and supported by tens of other Charter 77 signatories, Ms. Dana Němcová stressed that:
If Mr. Liu becomes a Nobel Laureate, this will be in our opinion a clear signal that universal values, such as respect for human rights, for human dignity and at the same time, the right and responsibility of citizens to demand that their governments uphold them, remain immutable regardless of place and time. These universal values were valid in Czechoslovakia in 1977 when we endorsed the Charter 77 Declaration, and are as valid in China in the 21st century.
In addition, former President Vaclav Havel – one of the initiators and spokespersons of the original Czechoslovak Charter 77 – and a group of prominent international figures have issued an open letter to the Noel Peace Committee calling for Mr. Liu’s nomination. Their letter stated that:
In working to promote human rights, political reform, and democratization in China, Liu has made a significant contribution to the values of peace and fraternity among nations that Nobel had in mind when he created the award more than a century ago. Of course, democratization does not automatically guarantee better behavior on the world stage. But it does facilitate a full and rigorous public debate over key questions of a state’s foreign and domestic policies. This active and searching conversation, the hallmark of a democratic polity, is the best hope for better decisions by governments, both at home and abroad.
In addition to Bishop Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, ex-president Havel´s open letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee was also endorsed by philosopher André Glucksmann; president of Carnegie Corporation Vartan Gregorian; former director of the World Trade Organisation Mike Moore; former foreign minister of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg and former chairman of the Russian United Democratic party Yabloko Grigory Yavlinsky.
In a coordinated action with their Czech colleagues, large group of Slovak parliamentarians (51 MPs out of 150-member National Council of the Slovak Republic), have sent their own nomination of Liu Xiaobo for Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination letter was co-signed by both former and the current chairmen of the parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Minorities and the Status of Women, József Berényi and László Nagy. Also, two former chairmen of the Parliament, František Mikloško and Pavol Hrušovský, are among the signatories.
Slovak MPs were supported by protagonists of the November 1989 Velvet Revolution in Slovakia, co-founders of the Public Against Violence and of the Hungarian Independent Initiative, by former leaders of student movement in 1989, by former political prisoners, ex-ministers of Slovak government as well as by prominent public intellectuals, artists, academics and civic activists from Slovak NGOs. “We do it because we are convinced human rights are indivisible. We do it as citizens remembering human suffering under totalitarian system as well as resistance of secret church, civic dissent, and environmentalists in Slovakia. We do it as people believing in the power of ideas and of free individuals,” say the civic coordinators from Pontis Foundation, People in Peril Association, Institute for Public Affairs and Conservative Institute of M. R. Štefánik.
Mr. Jan Tore Sanner, Member of the Parliament of Norway and Vice President of the Norwegian Conservative Party (Høyre), has been inspired by the President Havel’s open letter and has submitted his own nomination of Liu Xiaobo to the Peace Prize. In his nomination letter, Mr. Sanner wrote
“Liu’s personal courage, his principles and his long struggle against an oppressive state places him in a proud line of dedicated human rights activists that embody the spirit of Nobel’s will. In addition, awarding the price to Liu Xiaobo would send a strong signal that no government, no state, may blatantly disregard fundamental human rights such as free speech. Such an award would serve as an immense inspiration to others fighting for freedom and human rights.”
Liu Xiaobo (born December 28, 1955) is a respected intellectual and human rights activist in China. He has been detained, arrested, and sentenced repeatedly for his peaceful political activities, including participation in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Since 2003, he has served as President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center. On Christmas Day 2009, Liu Xiaobo, was condemned to 11 years in prison on the charges of “inciting subversion of state power,” after being detained since December 8, 2008. Mr. Liu is considered to be one of the main drafters of Charter 08, a petition inspired by Czechoslovakia’s Charter 77, which called on the Chinese government to adhere to its own laws and constitution, as well as demanding the open election of public officials, freedom of religion and expression, and the abolition of “subversion” laws.
Mr. Liu’s human rights work has received international recognition. In 2004, Reporters Without Borders honored Mr. Liu’s human rights work by awarding him the Fondation de France Prize as a defender of press freedom. In March 2009, Liu Xiaobo was awarded with the Homo Homini Award by the One World Human Rights Film Festival, organized by the Prague-based Czech NGO People in Need, in honor of his work promoting freedom of speech, democratic principles and human rights.
In December 2009, the Czech Ministry for Foreign Affairs joined United States, Canada, Australia and several EU member states in condemning Liu Xiaobo’s sentence. On January 6, 2010, former Czech president Václav Havel joined with other communist-era dissidents at the Chinese embassy in Prague to present a petition calling for Mr. Liu’s release.
For any further information:
Igor Blazevic
People in Need
Prague, Czech Republic
420. 777 787 914
igor.blazevic@oneworld.cz
